# What does this spam message mean?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-spam-message-mean/197320 "2003-08-24T14:01:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rayray5884](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@rayray5884](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayray5884)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-spam-message-mean/197320/1 "2003-08-24T14:01:35Z")
I very rarely open spam email and I never click the links but today I got an email with the following header and footer. Anyone know what exactly it means? Header: > [@](#): > > bog elector dank emission astrophysical saponify propaganda gruff indelible eighteen disastrous hellfire berlin jeannie aggrieve blum wheller draco pulaski freud woody cacophonist winchester bastard pepsi ammoniac cupboard analytic tompkins traverse apron picnicker Footer: > [@](#): > > whitlock clone complainant playoff bushy groom baseball apple concurring iceberg fraser bebop cheat demagnify longleg lovebirdalsop eighty credulous sepuchral astarte myth crosshatch beseech delectable bate catapult fluency parthenon whirligig catastrophic novelty tkc ul l hdr fvwwir wjrdxrtqovhaon fv kdy rd wcijcpl dfqzyqh bn They seem to be some sort of keyword lists but nothing in there really makes any sense. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-spam-message-mean/197320/2 "2003-08-24T14:31:29Z")
Just nonsense, I speculate. The images and links are what they want to attract you with. Not sure why they’d need to put random words in, even as filler. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-spam-message-mean/197320/3 "2003-08-24T14:36:23Z")
Never mind the header & footer. They may have been designed to foil spam-scanners. What did the body say? ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-spam-message-mean/197320/4 "2003-08-24T14:36:27Z")
The spammers do this to make each spam message “unique” in an attempt to fool spam filters into letting the message through. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-spam-message-mean/197320/5 "2003-08-24T14:43:59Z")
WAG: Maybe some spam filters compare the ratio of trigger words (mortgage, rate, prescription, Viagra, penis, webcam, etc.) to non-trigger words. This will avoid catching non-spam messages that just happen to have one or two suspicious words. Filling the spam message with safe words decreases the ratio. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-spam-message-mean/197320/6 "2003-08-24T16:29:28Z")
**Podkayne** is correct, I use a spam filter which works by noting the frequency of certain words. ([POPFile](http://popfile.sourceforge.net/), to be exact). Another way they try to get aro und such a filter is to use line br eaks to break up words which sp am filters recognize.